doubt it. I’m going to be pretty busy. You could help me with some directions, though.”
“Sure, where are you headed?”
“The Double H Ranch.”
Emily tried not to react. Was Nate hiring? “I doubt they’re hiring right now.”
“I’ll take my chances. Do you know the way?”
“Just head back out to the highway and go east about ten miles until you reach Hunter Ridge Road. Turn left and go another mile and you’ll run right into it.”
He nodded. With a tug on the child’s hand, they walked out the door. Sophie looked over her shoulder and waved shyly with her free hand.
Something tightened around Emily’s heart. Through the window her gaze followed them as the man helped his niece into the truck. Both the truck and trailer looked like they’d covered a lot of miles. Was that where they lived while traveling from job to job? Where was the child’s mother and father?
“Sam!” she called, pulling off her apron. “I need to get back to the ranch. Can you handle things on your own?”
The husky man in his late fifties stepped out from the kitchen. He scratched his head. “Emily, I really could use your help during the lunch shift.”
“Margaret can handle it,” she said.
“Sure but, Em, you know Shane and Nate can handle things….”
“I know that. I’m not going back to bug them, I’ve got to talk to Nate about giving a man a job.”
After a stop at the store for some groceries, snacks and drinks, and to gas up the truck, Reece headed out of town toward the Double H. This new job wasn’t going to be easy to pull off. Not with a child in tow. The stunts were pretty basic, just some trick riding. But Reece had a child depending on him now and his commitment to Sophie changed everything. He’d signed on for the stunt job before he even knew of his niece’s existence. The producer, Jason Michael, had just about begged Reece to work on this movie. If the producer hadn’t been so persistent, he’d never have agreed to take the job. Jason had assured Reece that they’d work out housing and childcare once he arrived on location.
Reece’s grip tightened on the steering wheel. He wished he had a permanent home for Sophie now. Hopefully after this last job, he could head to Texas and buy that small ranch he’d always wanted. And he could make a home for Sophie.
Suddenly years of guilt washed over him as distant memories came flooding back. His sister, Carrie, had been three years his junior. He wasn’t sure if they even had the same father. However, if they’d had the choice, neither one of them would have claimed Gina McKellen for their mother. No matter how bad it got, Carrie and Reece had had each other. When their mother took off, child services stepped in and they’d been separated. Reece had promised he’d find Carrie wherever she wound up and that they would be together again.
He’d been out of foster care a while before he finally located her. Bitter and street tough, Carrie had hooked up with a bad crowd, and hadn’t wanted his help…until her death. And then he’d been shocked when he’d learned that his sister wanted him to raise her only child.
So at thirty-two Reece had suddenly become a parent. He hadn’t thought twice about taking Sophie. She was his family. And he hadn’t realized how much that mattered to him until he’d gotten to social services in Dallas and saw this tiny, lost-looking kid. She looked up at him with those big brown eyes and said, “Unca Reece” and his fate was sealed. At that moment Reece vowed that he’d give her the home he was never able to give Carrie.
He might not be the best father material. God knew he hadn’t had much experience in that department, but Sophie’s chances were better with him than in foster care. Now, he just had to make a permanent home for his new charge. His one bedroom apartment in L.A. was only passable for the social worker. Owning his own ranch had been his plan for years, and the reason he’d gotten into stunt work.
He had an eye on a small place in West Texas where he could breed horses and maybe run a few head of cattle. Although he’d saved about everything he could, he still hadn’t accumulated the amount he needed. So this job for Jason Michael’s Production should about get him the rest of the money, and convince the caseworker, Mrs. Reynolds, that he was serious about making a home for Sophie. But for now, since he didn’t have permanent custody of his niece, he’d had to get permission to bring Sophie to the movie location. He also had to report in, and might even be visited by the local child services authorities.
Reece blew out a long breath. Job number one was to find suitable housing for Sophie and himself while they were in Haven. Then he had to find someone to take care of Sophie while he worked on the movie set. His thoughts turned to the waitress. She would be good with his niece, but he doubted she would give up a permanent job to baby-sit. And with the sparks that had flashed between them back at the café, she would be one complication too many. He already had enough to deal with with Sophie and the new job.
He just hoped Jason had those details all worked out.
Seeing the sign, Reece turned onto the road that led to the Double H Ranch. He gazed out the window at the view. The rust and brown hues of the mountain range stood out against a rich blue sky. It was breathtaking. Although he was a Texas boy, it wouldn’t be a hardship enjoying this beautiful country for the next few months.
Reece drove under the archway that announced the ranch’s proprietor Nate Hunter. Envy ate at him as rows of white fencing, surrounding a bright-red barn along with several white outbuildings appeared. To his left a horse trotted around a large corral, reminding him that his own mounts, Toby and Shadow, needed attention.
A yellow, two-story house trimmed in white came into view. There was a circular driveway lined with multicolored flowers that led to a huge wraparound porch adorned with a wooden swing and several wicker chairs. The whole scene was an invitation to just sit and relax.
“Look at the big house,” Sophie gasped from the back seat.
“It sure is big,” he answered, enjoying her rare stab at conversation.
“And pretty flowers,” she whispered.
Reece smiled as he headed the truck toward where a posted sign directed the film crew to the back side of the barn. There were a few cars there, but not any crew. Great. He had two horses that had been confined in a trailer longer than they should be. He parked under a large tree, shading the truck from the hot August sun and turned to Sophie.
“Hey, sweetie, I need to get Shadow and Toby out of the trailer. So you stay here. I’ll leave the air on so you should stay cool enough. Okay?”
She nodded. “’Kay,” she answered and grabbed the raggedy bear off the seat and hugged it. Since the day he’d met his niece, she’d been inseparable from her stuffed friend. It had been the only toy the child had with her. And although Reece had taken her to a toy store, she hadn’t found anything she wanted to replace the bear. By some miracle he’d managed to get her to leave it in the truck while they went into the café.
He climbed out, walked to the back of the trailer and lowered the gate. Usually on a movie location, he just bunked in the truck cab, but he couldn’t do that with Sophie. Movie companies often supplied housing on location, but such accommodations were reserved for the headlining actors. Stunt people never received such preferential
